1. Field of Disclosure
Embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to locking systems, and more specifically, to a locking assembly that is used to secure electronic equipment within an equipment rack and to prevent unwanted removal and installation of the electronic equipment from the equipment rack.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Centralized data centers for computer, communications and other electronic equipment have been in use for a number of years. More recently, with the increasing use of the Internet, large scale data centers that provide hosting services for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Application Service Providers (ASPs) and Internet content providers have become increasingly popular. It is often desirable to operate equipment within data centers seven days a week, 24 hours per day, with little or no disruption in service. To prevent any disruption in service, it is common practice in data centers to use uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) provided in equipment racks to ensure that the equipment within the data centers receives continuous power throughout any black out or brown out periods. Typically, data centers are equipped with a relatively large UPS at the main power distribution panel for the facility. Often, the UPS is selected to have sufficient capacity to meet the power requirements for all of the equipment within the facility.
The use of the UPS to provide power to a critical load is well known in the art. The UPS is designed to protect electronic equipment from utility power blackouts, brownouts, sags and surges. The UPS may also protect electronic equipment from small utility fluctuations and large disturbances. In most rack configurations, the UPS provides battery backup until utility power returns to safe levels or the batteries are fully discharged. The configurable rack may include power distribution modules and batteries to form the UPS, and other pieces of equipment required to operate the uninterruptible power supply. These modules are rack-mounted in the well-known manner.
FIG. 1 illustrates a partial view of a typical modular power distribution unit (mPDU) 10. The power distribution unit consists of a rack frame chassis and removable power distribution modules (PDMs) 20. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary power distribution module 20. In order to install or remove a power distribution module from the power distribution unit, the operator needs to open a latch provided on a front surface of the power distribution module 20, which is illustrated in FIG. 3. To safely remove the power distribution module, the operator should power OFF the power distribution module. However, existing power distribution modules can be removed when the power distribution module is powered ON, via the host PDU. There are warning messages in instruction manuals to warn operators not to install or remove the modules while the power is ON in the main unit.